The Ohio Independent Baptist, November 1963

that most people read it today. All of the tithe of the land, whether the eed of the land, of the fruit of the tree 1vas the Lord's. Was holy unto the Lord. That is, it was the Lord' under the law. But that was not the case. All the tithe of the land is the Lord's because of a ,principle, that, ·'the 'land is mine". Here is the way thi verse would read if it had been a new ovation, all of the tithe of the land, whether the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree shall be the Lord' . But you see it reads, ''is the Lord's,,. Is, is present tense. Do you see this? There is a principle in the Word from Genesis to the Revela– tion that "the land is mine' '. There are many principles that never change throughout the Bible, as far as the Jew, Gentile, or the Church is con– cerned. For example, the holiness of God, the love of God, and sin, are the same throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In the be– ginning God created. It is the ame from Genesis to Revelation. There are divine principles all through the Bible that never change. One of these principles is "the land is mine". On this principle God charges a tithe to every person on this earth, who has any income, both saved and unsaved. Tithe mentioned The first mention of the tithe i found in Gen. 14, after Abram re– turned from the slaughter of the king and the rescue of Lot. I would like to have you follow in the context, Gen. 14: 17. "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high od possessor of heaven and eartl1" . Notice the~e word s : " the mot high G od , - possessor of l1 eaven and ea,1/1". All the " land is mine", don ' t you see? And i1111l1edit el)' we h ave the tithe. '~Blessed be the n1ost hi gh od wh ich ha th deliver ed thine e11emies i11to they hand ." od is introduced as the 'po. sessor of heaven a nd eartl1". l1r11 1ediately, to the pr1c~t o f tl1e 1110. t l1igl1 od, Abra111 bro L1ght ''ti tl1es of a ll ' ' . How did Abral1a 111 k11ow to l) ri11g tlie e titl1e ? 1 le 111usl ha\'e kno~·n i t by re elation ! 1 cc J Od J1as giv 1 tru tl1 lly inSJlir a tio1, H does 1101 gi,,e it agai11 b)' revelation. Bttt si1 ce it vva r1ot )' e l gi , 1 en 1))' i11~JJira tio11, it The OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST had to be given to Abram by revela– tion. So, he brought Melchizedek tithe of all. Notice Melchizedek brought the bread and the wine, Abram brought the tithes. Jesus Chri t is a prie t forever after the order of Melchize– dek. Jesus Chri t provides the bread and wine, and we who are of faith a,re the children of Abraham. we bring the tithes. Don't you see? I would like to also make thi observation. The first me,ition of the tithe was to Abram. Abram was un– der a covenant of pure grace, Gen. 12: 1-4 and confirmed by the shedd– ing of blood, Gen. 15. We ee that this covenant of promice wa pure grace. Second mention of the tithe is found in Gen. 28: 22 when jacob said "and this stone, which I have et for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the Tenth unto thee." This was also many years before the 1 aw was given, in fact the covenant was given to Abram 434 y ears before the law was given to Moses. Here i tithing before the law. We have seen tihing during the time of the law. Now I would ]ike to show you tithing in the Bible since the law. I hear so many say there i no tithing in the New Tes tament. In Luke 16: 16, we read these word "The law and the pro,phet were until John; s ince that time the king– dom of God i preached , and every man pres eth into it". In the fir t part of Luke 16, Jesus gave the parable of the unjust s teward. Then H e gave the interpretation through ver e 8 to 12. In verse 12 Jesus said, "If ye have not been faithful in that which i another man's, who hall give you th a t which is your own?" And H e i peak– ing of money. H e i speaking of the tithe. The tithe i the Lord ' . In Matt. 23: 23 Je u aid, ' Woe unto you cribes and Phari ee . hy pocrite ! for ye pay tithe ". It i alway par tithes, never give . ' You ,pay tithes, - - - - a nd have omitted the weighti er matter of the law, judgn,c nt . n1er cy a nd f a ith : the e o t1ght ye to have do ne." In o ther wor cls, yot1 ho ttl ll h ave tithed . Bt1t no t to have Jett tl1c o ther undo ne . Je\·11J C'l1ri.\t tt/Jpr(>Vetl 1/1e ti1/1e c1/ler tl1 e J1111 e <>! tl1e ltrlv. f ter l ..ukc 16: 16 ar1J after tl1e t i r11c o f Jo hn tl1c Ba1 ti 'i t. 'ec tt1c J)0111 t ? I 1tl1i 11g is \ ' Cf)' c.lcar ~,nee tl1e la,,'. he L.,ord Jcs tJs l1r1st , :-;1)c>ke tl1csc "'' l>rlls: ··All IJOV\'tr is given u11to 111 ~, i11 }1 a, 1 c r1 a11cl i11 eartl1. , t> 1 0 tl1cre– f <.)r~ ~L11c.l teac l1 nil 11n t io11 ~, l)a1>tizi11g tl1c111 i1 tl1e na1 1e l>f t l1 "' all1 r , arlll of the Son, and of the H oly Ghost : Teaching them to obser ve a ll thing whatsoever I have commanded you. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world ." M a tt. 28: 19- 20. This is usually called the great commission. If that one does not please you , ye have it again in Ac ts 1 : 8. I 'm ure we can say tha t this is carried out in Act by the Churc h . The words are very clear, "But ye shall receive power, after tha t the Holy Ghost i come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto m e both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermo t part of the earth. " The question is thi , if we are to send missionaries to the uttermost part of thi earth , and pa tors to all the churches, as the New Testament teache how are they going to be up,ported? Is there any ,nethod in the N e}v Testament that God has given to sup– port his full tin1e servants? Today, every church ha a different method. To rai e money for mi sions we have all kinds of methods and gimmick . I wonder why it i ? I God calling unto him elf ervants with no way to upport them? Notice we haven t taught anything about giving, sacri– ficial giving. We are ju t working o far with the tithe. Would you turn with m e to the book of the Revelation, chapter 1 and notice that John wa ' in the Spirit on the Lord's day" . In ver e 12, he turned to ee " the voice" tha t poke with him. Turning, he aw, " even golden candle tick . And in the mid t of the seven candle tick one like t1nto the Son of Man. " H er e the Lord J e u Chri t i een in Hi h igh prie tly robe . John wa amazed to ee that in hi right ha nd he held even tar . In ver e 20, the Lord J e, u explain tha t the e, 1 cn star~ (Continued on next page) Ll ew ellyn Thon1pson Page 5, NOVEM BER 1963